I'm so excited to finally be able to share my project that I created for the My Favorite Things Retreat in May. I can't say enough great things about the experience. If Kim schedules another one, I say RUN! Run! The women that we spent the weekend with were so warm and wonderful, so good to each other. It really made my heart SO happy. Some ladies came with a buddy, several women came alone and made wonderful friends in class. They came by car, they came by plane, they came from OTHER COUNTRIES. It was incredible! And we had so. much. fun.
My class on Sunday was a mini book. It's made from 8 1/2 x 11 paper, since I know not everyone stocks up on 12x12. And it uses the amazing Mini Album STAX in both the Scalloped Square and Bracket "editions" using a Black Licorice card stock base makes the book just a little bit more durable than binding it with eyelets, or clips.
The cover includes the Beautiful Chalkboard Greetings stamp set, it fits ever so nicely onto the Heirloom Label Die-namics. We painted those Royal Leaves with crackle paint, then once they were all crackly and dry, gave them LOADS of Distress Ink. I {heart} my Distress Ink. This beautiful flower is the Fringed Perennial with a little Sno Cone Button in the center. Here's a tip, tie that Hemp Cord behind your button, when you glue it in place, it will secure the button so the hemp stays tied.
Now, here's my surprise. I'd spent all day Saturday taking photos, photos of the women taking classes, photos of the store, and photos of everyone with their friends. Now that might be a friend they'd made in class (I love that) or it might be a friend they'd traveled to the retreat with.
But then, and the ladies were not too excited about this, I took a photo of everyone. A headshot..... yeah, not everyone was super excited about having their photo taken, but they didn't really know what I was up to quite yet.... I spent most of Saturday afternoon editing the photos, cropping, and adding some filters to make everyone all glowy. And then we had them printed and the retreat staff (Mona, Jody, Julie & Barbara and Brianna) lovingly trimmed out each of those photos, so that when the girls finished their books, they all got their own set of photos to complete the book. They teared up, and then, when I decided to make a little announcement... I bawled.
Here's the first two pages. Up first is the beautiful classroom and all of our attendees hard at work. I added a small Fishtail Flag STAX and a little Pink Lemonade Button to my page. Here's where everyone got to add their new head shot to the InstaFrame Die-namics. This is a photo of me the day my braces came off - I haven't stopped smiling since!
- Behind the Camera Die-namics
- Behind the Camera Stamp Set
- Heart STAX
- Story Titles
- Fishtail Flags STAX
- Mini Album Scallop STAX
- Circle STAX Set 1 & Set 2
- Story Starters Die-namics
- Chalkboard Greetings
- Winter Rose Die-namics - see my video showing how to add scoring to your flowers for extra detail HERE
This cute photo includes Mona, Jody, Me and Chris V - waves HELLO to all my friends!
We had so much fun working on these, and I love that they left with a fully finished scrapbook of their weekend with us. I love these girls and I hope that every single one of them joins us next time. Although maybe you might secretly wish that a few of them have scheduling conflicts that day because you want to come too. :)
These girls were rock stars. They got this whole book assembled, and got all their photos in in under three hours. I was SO amazed!
13 Comments Post a Comment:
LOVE this Jo! I would love to come next time :) Sounds like you ladies had a BLAST! that was so sweet of you to print out the pics for the girls :) What a treasure to take home!
Giving us photos to complete our mini albums was *the best* finishing touch! I was probably one of the grumblers about the head shot since I really don't like my picture taken, but I love my photo! Thank you, thank you for an amazing project in a weekend of amazing projects!
your mini albums are always amazing! this is so sweet! what a great idea to have all those pictures for the ladies ready to go! MFT is awesome.
What a GORGEOUS book Jo!!! LOVE every bit of this!! Absolutely GORGEOUS! I hope Kim has another one...I would love to come!
OMG can it get any cuter, love your mini book Jo!!!! What a beautiful memory book to treasure :D
You, my dear, are amazing. The booklet is WONDERFUL and what a fabulous extra touch to give pictures from the retreat! I'll bet those little memory books will be saved for years and years. BRAVO!!!!
Tricia
Love, love your book Jo!
What a wonderful way to remember a very special day! I hope to join in someday! )
What a beautiful book!
I have just discovered your blog, it's fantastic! Now I am your follower!
vive-lavi
I was one of these lucky girls at the retreat. This book was amazing and is a total treasure! I hope we are doing this again next year because I am already planning my trip!!
This is beautiful, Joanne! I bet they LOVED the thought that went into the planning of that weekend! Wish I could have been there!
Not only was this little book SO much fun to make and a PERFECT addition to the wonderful weekend at MFT, it was an incredible investment in time for you to take/crop/print and distribute the photos so we could all take home a completed memory of the amazing time we all had. (phew, that was a long thought) Just wanted to say thanks again for the fantastic project and I am in AWE!!!
I am now a mini album convert since your fab class at the retreat, I have even had to apologise to one of my crafty friends for never making one when she suggested it lol. I love having the photos to remember such a special event and am able to look at the photos and recall the fun whenever I want. Thank you for making the event such a wonderful time and for making me feel so welcome. Hugs, Amanda x
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